Dinar Fraud Trial Begins
By John Lee. Ohio based publication The Toledo Blade has reported the beginning of a new trial of three local men accused of intentionally deceiving investors with the now familiar refrain that the Iraqi dinar will dramatically revalue. The accused ran a firm BH Group along with two hedge funds, with one defendant allegedly lying about fighting in Iraq. […]
Baghdad Launches Infrastructure Projects
By John Lee. Al Shorfa has reported an announcement by the provincial governor of Baghdad Riyadh al-Adhadh that infrastructure projects worth 200 billion dinars ($172 million) will be launched shortly in the towns surrounding Baghdad. While the provincial governor announced the news, it is notable that Baghdad's controversial mayor Naim Abub al-Kaabi has come under fire in […]
US Firm Wins Dredging Contract
By John Lee. US heavy industries firm PAT GD JV LLC has been awarded a 17 month contract worth $24.4 million to dredge waterways and install a floating pier in support of the Iraqi Navy through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The company, established in 2012 is based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. The award […]
Yildiz: Oil Still in Storage at Ceyhan
By John Lee. Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz (pictured) has hinted that his country will not sell oil from the port of Ceyhan until there has been an agreement between Baghdad and Erbil. Minister Yildiz noted that the Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TPAO) does not currently need to move the Iraqi oil in storage, although the […]
Iranian Gas to Supply Basra
By John Lee. Gas from the South Pars field in Iran could be supplying power stations in the province of Basra within a year, reports UPI. A pipeline currently under construction will run from Asaluyeh to Iraq's southern city of 2 million people, and may later extend to Syria, depending on conditions "after the war" according […]
DNO Announce First Quarter Results
By John Lee. DNO International ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas company, today announced first quarter 2014 net profit of USD 24 million on operating revenue of USD 113 million. Production climbed by more than a quarter from the previous quarter to 45,744 barrels of oil equivalent per day on a company working interest (CWI) basis. The […]
Petroceltic Operations Update
By John Lee. Petroceltic International plc, the independent oil and gas exploration company focused on the Middle East, North Africa, Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, has announced an update on its operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Egypt and Romania. Below we have included their operations update for the Kurdistan region of Iraq: Kurdistan: The Shakrok-1 […]
Shell: Majnoon Exports Commence
By John Lee. Once a scene of bloody fighting during the Iran-Iraq war, Majnoon is now an oil field of vital economic importance for Iraq. Royal Dutch Shell's announcement marks a crucial step in its development since the discovery of the field in 1975. After a lull in development during the sanctions era of the […]
Bayshore Announce Heavy Oil Project
By John Lee. Bayshore Petroleum Corp is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Letter of Intent with International Enhanced Petroleum Services (EPS), a private UAE company with its registered office located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, UAE and operating in Iraq, to construct a pilot heavy oil upgrading facility utilizing a […]
Housing Project Completed in Najaf
By John Lee. Iraq's minister of housing and construction Mohammed al Daraji has announced the completion of a 500 unit housing complex in Najaf, Iraq. Iraq is currently in the middle of a major drive to build 2 million new housing units, and a number of international construction firms are working on projects within Iraq […]
US-Iraq Security Cooperation Continues
By Hassan al Najm for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Lt. Gen. Michael Bednarek, chief of the US Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, said that the Iraqi government and armed forces are working on countering terrorism in cooperation with the United […]
CPECC, Petrofac Win Rumaila Contracts
By John Lee. Iraq has announced the award of two contracts totalling nearly a billion dollars to Britain's Petrofac and China's CPECC, Reuters reports. The deals, for services at the super-giant Rumaila field near Basra, were worth $535.8 million for Petrofac and $425 million for China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation. Rumaila is a field of key strategic […]